


World Cup Dragons

by FechtarTheDragon (mariothellama)



Category: Football RPF
Genre: Belgian National Team, Belgium & Switzerland - final group stage games, Belgium v. Brazil, Belgium v. Japan, Belgium v. Tunisia, Birthday Cake, Celebrations, Comfort, Dancing, Dragons, FIFA World Cup 2018, Fun, Helicopters, Huddersfield, Mention of injuries, Only an AU in so far as they have dragons, Opening Ceremony, Other, Players have dragons, Playoff for 3rd place, Poland v. Senegal, Polish National Team, Post-World Cup holiday, Red the Belgian Team Mascot, Swiss National Team, Switzerland v. Brasil, Team Announcement Day, Training Camp, Victory Parade, World Cup Final, coming home, snacks
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-03
Updated: 2018-07-16
Packaged: 2019-05-17 19:59:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 16
Words: 12,310
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14838224
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mariothellama/pseuds/FechtarTheDragon
Summary: Security will be a big issue in Russia, so several national football associations have decided that players with dragons should take them with them since dragons will always protect their humans and their humans' friends. And of course that means that the dragons have to go to training camp as well.





	1. Switzerland - 'Goalkeeper Training'

**Author's Note:**

  * For [LowInHighSchool](https://archiveofourown.org/users/LowInHighSchool/gifts).
  * Inspired by [The Adventures Of Shkodran And His Dragon](https://archiveofourown.org/works/12562748) by [LowInHighSchool](https://archiveofourown.org/users/LowInHighSchool/pseuds/LowInHighSchool). 



> Dear LowInHighSchool
> 
> I hope you like this! These are your dragons and thank you so very much for letting me play in your amazing dragon world.
> 
> There are three training camp fics planned so far. The next two will be Poland and Belgium (of course!) But the first one had to be Switzerland starring your Granit and Kaxah and introducing a new dragon.

Roman still wasn’t sure if this was a very good idea, but Kürbi seemed to think otherwise as he jumped excitedly into the back seat of the car. That would be more glitter everywhere Roman realised a little bit too late, scratching the little dragon under the chin and making him chirp happily.

He hadn’t had Kürbi for very long and the little dragon wasn’t very well trained yet, resulting in a LOT of glitter accidents. But Granit had begged him to bring Kürbi to the World Cup so that Kaxah would have someone to play with when they were busy with training, physio and their other duties. And Granit had also pointed out that Kaxah would be sad on his own as he’d be missing his husband Suifatm as well. So they’d reached a compromise. Roman would take Kürbi with them to training camp to see how things worked out until it was time to leave for Russia. If he caused too much trouble though, then Roman’s brother had agreed to drive over and collect the little dragon and look after him for as long as Switzerland stayed in the competition.

Roman couldn’t help hoping that Kürbi would behave himself. He was very attached to the small orange dragon after just a few weeks together and didn’t like being separated from him for too long. He’d fallen in love with Spongebob and had been really upset when the black and yellow dragon had to go back to London early when his human got injured. But a few days later he’d got a mysterious text from Granit with an address in Hamburg and a date and a time.

Unable to resist the lure of a mystery and feeling a bit like he was in a James Bond film, Roman had turned up at the appointed time. He probably shouldn’t have been surprised to realise that the address belonged to the dragon expert from whom Granit had got Kaxah. But he most definitely was surprised when a small orange dragon bounded up to him straight away, knocking him to the ground, nuzzling him with the cutest snout Roman had ever seen and covering him in glitter.

He didn’t choose Kürbi, it was all Kürbi’s own decision and Roman had absolutely no choice other than to take him home. Not that he wanted to do anything else mind you. And the two of them had been inseparable ever since. Kürbi’s name suited him perfectly because he really did look like a small orange pumpkin with legs and a snout!

This was the first time that Kürbi and Kaxah would meet in person – they’d been introduced by Skype in advance of the training camp, covering Roman and Granit’s laptops in glitter in the process. Roman hoped that they would get on as well in real life, but he needn’t have worried. Granit and Kaxah were waiting for them as the car drew up. As soon as Roman opened the back door and released Kürbi from his ‘dragon seatbelt’, the little dragon bounded over to Kaxah as if they had been friends for years and the two of them ran off happily to play.

Kürbi and Kaxah played happily together from that time on, spending as much time as they could together. Roman might even have been a little jealous if he hadn’t been pleased that Kürbi had a friend to have fun with when he was working hard at training. And Kürbi curled up with him in bed every night like a warm dragon hot water bottle easing his aches and pains from the day’s training.

That training camp was one of the best ever. All their teammates loved Kaxah and Kürbi and didn’t even mind too much when they covered them in glitter when they got a bit overexcited. There had been a slightly awkward moment when Roman had to tell Yann that he had glitter in his hair before giving a television interview. But Yann had just laughed and done that ‘model flick’ thing with his lustrous locks to get the glitter out.

Yann and Granit were sitting with Kaxah and Kürbi one day watching Roman practice. Roman was trying to focus on saving the random balls that were being kicked towards them from all angles, but something he could see out of the corner of his eye kept distracting him. Finally he asked for a break to work out what was going on, only to find Yann and Granit rolling about in fits of giggles.

‘It’s the dragons,’ Yann finally explained, tears of laughter running down his face. ‘They keep trying to fly over and catch the balls. I think they want to play at being goalkeeping dragons!’

Roman looked at Kürbi, trying to look stern. ‘Are you misbehaving?’ he asked. But he couldn’t keep on pretending to be angry, not with those eyes looking up at him and Granit and Yann still giggling like a pair of schoolkids.

Roman shrugged. ‘Maybe we should let them try out as goalkeepers for a bit? It might be good practice for us too. A couple of dragons running about in the box will be every bit as chaotic as half an opposition team.’

The others readily agreed. Breel was hanging about at a loose end and asked to take part as well. And so began the strangest training exercise in the history of the Swiss national team, with Yann, Roman, Kaxah and Kürbi in goal while Breel and Granit tried to score. And Roman had been right, it was kind of good practice for those chaotic moments that were every goalkeeper’s nightmare, when you couldn’t see or predict what was happening around you right in front of your own goal.

After about half an hour of fun, they all flopped down on the grass for a drink.

‘Chicken?’ asked Granit.

‘A good idea!’ Breel answered.

‘I meant for Kaxah and Kürbi, not you,’ laughed Granit. ‘But you’ve got a point. We’ve all earned a good protein feast.’

And so they all went in search of something to eat, two very happy and self-satisfied dragons following on their heels.


	2. Belgium - Team Announcement

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Since today was final team selection day for most teams, a very short fic to celebrate! Almost all of our favourites got to go in the end, although we were a little sad about a couple who missed out!

‘We’re going to Russia, Spongebob! We’re going to the world cup!’ Michy cried excitedly, dancing round the room with his black and yellow dragon companion.

Spongebob was every bit as excited as he was and turned somersault after somersault, snorting out a cloud of glitter after the completion of each revolution. But first he gave his human a long, hard look that was clearly dragon for _don’t you even think about joining in and getting injured again before we even get on the plane to Russia!_

Michy sighed, scratching Spongebob under the chin. He’d never really doubted that he’d be fit enough for Russia. But there was a lot of competition for the twenty-three places in the Belgian team and he’d only just recovered from his ankle injury, so he hadn’t been taking anything for granted.

Poor Spongebob had been so upset to see him hurt and having to use crutches. He’d kept gently rubbing his snout against his human’s sore ankle to try and make it better. Maybe it was all just in his imagination, but Michy was convinced that Spongebob had helped his ankle to heal so quickly since there was something magical about dragons.

He was just glad that Spongebob hadn’t been there that day to see him getting carried off the pitch on a stretcher. He’d half thought of taking him with them since it was just a short bus ride, but blue had been the ‘good’ colour since they’d moved to Chelsea so it had been very, very confusing for Spongebob to adapt to blue temporarily being the ‘bad’ colour. And given how the day had ended up, he’d been glad that Spongebob had been left behind on a playdate with Mason the Labrador under the supervision of Ju’s girlfriend.

But that was all in the past and now they could look forward to Russia. Right on cue Eden and his dragon Dazrah came over to join the party. Spongebob and Dazrah bumped snouts excitedly before running round and round chasing each other’s tails.

‘Glad you’re coming with us, bro!’ Eden hugged him.

‘Couldn’t let my lil wizard go without me, could I? And anyway, it wouldn’t be fair to separate those two,’ he answered, nodding at the two celebrating dragons.

‘I suppose it wouldn’t. Even if it might have meant that there was a lot less glitter to sweep up. It’s worse than having a dog sometimes!’

Not that either of them would ever have been without their dragons though!

Eden whistled to catch the dragons’ attention. ‘Spongebob! Dazrah! There is someone outside you might like to meet!’

The dragons knew who he meant straight away. They loved Red the team mascot. Even though he was a devil because of the Red Devils, he kind of looked a bit like a dragon. And he’d hatched from an egg, just like them!

‘And if you are very, very good there might be a square of chocolate for you afterwards. Belgian chocolate that is.’

Dragons shouldn’t eat too much chocolate, but a small piece wouldn’t do them any harm.

Now both dragons were extremely interested and they ran outside to hunt down Red the Devil and chase him round the training pitch. Red loved the dragons too and played along, letting them chase him until they tackled him to the ground and sat on top of him, covering him in glitter.

The whole team cheered and applauded. It was going to be a good World Cup with Red their brand new mascot and their two support dragons!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Michy was injured playing against Schalke. He does indeed call Eden his 'lil Belgian wizard' and keeps posting about how much he missed him, even tagging it 'bromance' once.
> 
> Red the Belgian team mascot was revealed by hatching from an egg in a square in Brussels! And there are pictures of Eden wrestling Red to the ground.


	3. Poland - Scenes from Training Camp (with additional dragons!)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Poland had some kind of pre-training camp and several of the players had their families with them. So the walk on the beach did happen, albeit Kuba had a very small, very fluffy dog in tow instead of a dragon. Woj was pretty much everywhere during pre-training, indeed in the official training camp - he really is the heart and soul of the party.
> 
> I presume all the players arrived at the team hotel by helicopter, but have only seen footage of Robert and Łukasz arriving. It really was like film stars turning up at a premiere. And the rest of it kind of happened too. There was a golf challenge (won by Łukasz!) And a birthday cake. 
> 
> This is the last 'training camp' fic, but there will be more dragon adventures from the World Cup. Other teams and dragons may well appear as well!

Kuba and Woj were walking along the beach, their dragons running happily in front of them. Kuba loved the feeling of sand under his bare feet and the dragons seemed to like the feel of sand beneath their claws as well. He’d come straight to pre-training camp from the nightmare of relegation playoffs, which they’d thankfully survived, so it was good to have some time to relax. And Woj was always good company, the heart and soul of the party.

This week was more relaxed. The ‘grown ups’ would arrive next week and they’d relocate to Arłamów where the hard work would begin. But there was time for some fun this week and Baku and Jow were in the thick of it, wanting to join in the training sessions and covering their teammates in glitter.

The international convention on dragon naming stated that dragons’ names were an anagram of the names of the humans they’d chosen to live with. But that left many of the Polish dragons with unpronounceable names, with far too many consonants and none of the vowels in the right places. So most dragons also had a nickname, just like their humans had.

‘They’ll need to behave properly when Yewl turn ups up next week,’ Woj remarked.

Their captain’s dragon was jet black with brilliant blue eyes, very fit and muscular and very, very disciplined. He only ate organic, free-range chicken.

‘Are you going to try and lead Yewl astray and feed him forbidden food again this time?’ Kuba asked.

‘Of course. It’s expected of me. And Yewl loves it really! He’s just too busy being the serious captain’s dragon most of the time. He should let loose and have fun with Baku and Jow more often!’

‘Robert is going to kill you!’

‘He might think about it. But he’s used to me by now. And he can’t really go about killing goalkeepers. Not even he would get away with that!’

Kuba laughed. The truth was that Woj had a reputation for making mischief, but he really was someone you could rely on underneath that party boy image. ‘How are you feeling? You have an important season behind you. Big boots to fill. Or more properly big gloves.’

Woj sighed. ‘Yes, it’s an amazing opportunity. But a big responsibility too.’

Kuba punched him on the arm in friendly camaraderie. ‘You’ll do great. I know that.’

‘Thanks. And you? You’ve had a hard year as well.’

This time it was Kuba’s turn to sigh. ‘Yes, it’s not the season I’d planned, not playing at all. I just hope that I’m fit enough for Russia and make the final selection.’

‘You will. I’m sure of that. You’re Kuba. You’re at the heart of our team. I can’t imagine us going to Russia without you. We wouldn’t have qualified without you either. And it would take a braver man that our team manager to split you and Łukasz up and stop you going to the World Cup together.’

A huge spread came over Kuba’s face, just like it always did when he and Łukasz were separated and someone talked about his beloved Piszczu.

‘I know you miss him. He’ll be here soon, don’t worry. And now, why don’t we go and play with the dragons!’

They ran after Baku and Jow, letting the dragons chase them up and down the beach and play wrestling with them until the four of them were lying in a pile of glittery sand.

A few days later Kuba and Baku were waiting patiently for the others to arrive at Arłamów. Well maybe not exactly patiently.

‘I know, Baku. Some of them really like to make an entrance.’ The little dragon snorted his agreement.

The helicopter carrying Robert and Yewl, Woj and Jow came into view. Nobody was sure how the dragons would cope with having to travel by helicopter so it had been decided that they should travel together. Robert emerged with sunglasses on to pose for photographs and sign autographs, Yewl following in his wake and posing for the cameras as well. Woj was behind him with Jow trotting along happily at his heels.

The three dragons were happy to see each other again, greeting each other friendlily. Even Yewl let out a small cloud of excited glitter before regaining control of himself.

The helicopter was soon back again with the next load of new arrivals and Kuba could see Łukasz sitting beside the pilot and looking out of the window. His breath caught in his throat as he saw Łukasz get out, looking handsome and stylish as usual in a crisp white shirt, denim shorts and dark glasses. He was so captivated by how handsome his Łukasz was that he failed to notice Baku breaking free of the security cordon and running up to Łukasz, knocking him to the ground and climbing on top of his chest in greeting.

Kuba sprinted over to join them. ‘Sorry,’ he grinned apologetically, holding out a hand to help Łukasz up, ‘I guess he missed you as much as I did and the excitement got too much for a small dragon. Your shirt is all covered in glitter now as well.’

They hugged tightly, despite Baku’s best efforts to wriggle his way in between them. ‘It’s OK,’ Łukasz reassured him, ‘I missed Baku too. And you. I’m glad that we’re together again.’

That night Baku insisted on sleeping snuggled up between them in bed. They didn’t mind too much since they were a family, a family finally reunited again.

Training camp went well. Yewl took charge of making sure that the dragons were fit and ready for the World Cup. In a way this was a good thing. Everybody had to be on their best behaviour in Russia and the dragons understood that they too were representing Poland. In the World Cup. In Russia. And that this was a very, very big thing for them, their humans and their country.

There was still time for some fun though. The dragons took part in the team golf competition as well and turned out to be very good at finding lost balls. But they didn’t like it one little bit when their humans had to go into the chryrochamber and stood outside chirping in an agitated fashion, even Yewl.

Everything seemed to be going suspiciously well. Until the night of Łukasz’s birthday that was. The chefs had made him a special birthday cake with his shirt number, packed full of strawberries. Another of their teammates had his birthday the same day so the team celebrated that night, at least as much as they could with the World Cup just days away.

It took some time before Kuba realised that he hadn’t seen Baku for a while. Come to mention it, where were Jow and Yewl? And Woj wasn’t anywhere to be seen either. Kuba had a terrible suspicion that something was going on. He whispered to Łukasz, asking him to go and talk to Robert and try to distract him while Kuba went to investigate.

The hotel was quiet as Kuba went in search of Woj and the dragons. After a minute or two of searching, he heard faint, contented chirping sounds coming from a room near the kitchen. Quietly he opened the door to see Woj and the three little dragons sitting on the floor with plates of birthday cake.

Woj turned round with a guilty expression on his face, a bit like a child who’d been caught eating too many sweets.

‘It’s OK. I’m alone. And Łukasz is taking care of Robert,’ Kuba assured him as he came to sit down on the floor beside him. Baku gave him a welcoming snout rub, with a snout that was covered in strawberries and cream. Jow and Jewl weren’t much better by the looks of it. In fact, Robert’s normally pristine black dragon was a complete sticky mess.

‘You know that Robert will not be happy if he finds out that you’ve been letting his dragon eat birthday cake?’

‘I know. But the others were allowed a small piece and he felt so left out. So I kind of snuck away with the dragons and some cake. Here! I’ve got a piece for you as well!’

Kuba couldn’t say no to an offer like that, so the five of them sat there companionably eating the rest of the evidence. Once there was no more cake left, Kuba went to get some water and a washcloth so that he and Woj could remove any incriminating traces that the dragons hadn’t already licked from their claws and snouts.

‘You know you will be the first one that Robert comes looking for if Yewl is sick tonight, don’t you,’ Kuba murmured darkly as he tried to make sure that the captain’s sleek black dragon wouldn’t betray any signs of his cake-eating adventure.

‘Of course!. But it was worth it! And you know that I would never give Yewl anything that would do him any harm.’

And it was worth it thought Kuba, looking at the three very happy dragons who trotted back into the party room with innocent expressions on their faces. Even if he and Łukasz did wake up to strawberry-flavoured glitter in their bed the next morning!


	4. Switzerland & Poland - Opening Ceremony

It was finally time. The opening ceremony of the World Cup was about to start. And the dragons and their humans settled down to watch with the rest of their teammates. For the dragons had quickly become part of the team and nobody could imagine a World Cup without them anymore.

Kürbi and Kaxah insisted on sitting in the front row to have the best view. Roman and Granit sat with them along with Yann. The dragons had adopted Yann as an honorary human since they’d decided that they were an integral part of goalkeeping training. Yann had taken this as the great honour that it was even if it did mean that he spent an inordinate amount of time shaking glitter out of his lustrous locks.

Neither Granit nor Roman had any idea how their dragons would react to the opening ceremony, but they should have known. The dragons were up and dancing a soon as the first chords of _Rock DJ_ boomed out of the speakers. And there might have been a little bit of glitter action going on as well!

‘Our dragons are dancing to Robbie Williams,’ Roman whispered to Granit.

‘I know. But they’re much better than the dancers in the show. The Russians should have hired dragons instead,’ giggled Granit.

At first the dragons were happy to dance alone but of course they wanted company after a while. So that was how Granit and Roman ended up dancing to _Let Me Entertain You_ with two small over-excited dragons in front of the entire Swiss national team.

Granit threatened to set his brother on anyone who videoed this and posted it online. Roman tried hard to look threatening, which wasn’t really possible dancing to Robbie Williams with a pair of glittery dragons. Luckily their teammates restricted themselves to good natured heckling from the back. There might also have been some friendly advice to avoid getting injured dancing to the opening ceremony as that would be very hard for their coach to explain to the media!

Luckily Kaxah and Kürbi got distracted by the giant bird thing that was part of the opening ceremony, obviously thinking it was a bit like a dragon. They chirped happily when they saw the tournament mascot as well. And there was a big glitter explosion when they saw the Swiss flag being paraded.

The two little dragons sat right in front of one of the televisions, snouts almost touching the screens as the 2018 FIFA World Cup kicked off.

Roman and Granit knew that their dragons loved football although they’d never been very sure if they actually understood what was going on besides running up and down having fun chasing a ball. But they seemed to have learned a lot in training camp, especially from helping out with goalkeeper training, and were clearly closely following the action. They definitely reacted to all five of Russia’s goals, marking each one with a snort of glitter.

‘We’d better hope that this is low scoring competition with no repeats of that Germany v. Brazil game or we’re going to spend most of the time on our knees clearing up glitter,’ sighed Granit. Not that they really minded as it was a small price to pay for their dragons’ companionship.

After the final whistle, Kaxah and Kürbi trotted back to their humans to be petted and scratched.

‘Shall we go to the kitchen and find you some chicken?’ Roman suggested. It hadn’t taken long for the two dragons to have their catering team wound round their little claws and the chefs often saved choice morsels for Kaxah and Kürbi.

The two dragons chirped their happy agreement and the four of them set off in the hunt for chicken. The World Cup had finally begun and it was going to be a good one, they were sure of that.

Elsewhere in Russia, the three Polish dragons were also waiting eagerly for the opening ceremony to begin. They were sitting in the back with Woj, Robert and Kuba, not to forget Łukasz of course. Łukasz and Kuba were holding hands in the privacy of the back of the room and Baku was nudging them softly with his snout, obviously happy to have his humans back together.

Everybody knew that Kuba and Łukasz were together and all their teammates were happy for them, but they tried to be discrete during training camp as the team and their goals were the focus. However they were almost inseparable, their joy in being able to train and play together again was infectious, and they felt comfortable enough to show their affection in front of Woj and Robert.

Jow and Yewl were sitting upright, chests puffed out, like the pair of proud Polish dragons that they were. They knew what a big achievement it had been for Poland to qualify and how important this was for their humans. The dragons maintained this posture all though the opening ceremony and kick off as the captain’s dragon too his responsibilities very seriously and Jow wasn’t going to be outdone either. But soon their heads started to swivel towards Woj. Jow tried hard to keep focus on the TV screen but something was obviously attracting his attention. Baku was interested as well and even Yewl was getting distracted.

Robert fixed Woj with a steely gaze from his blue eyes. ‘What are you hiding?’ he hissed quietly.

‘Well we couldn’t watch the opening ceremony without snacks and the dragons can obviously smell them.’ Woj retrieved a few bags of snacks from where he had stashed them. ‘But they’re healthy snacks. I asked the chefs to make chicken-flavoured healthy treats for the dragons. And there are some fruit and vegetable chips for us.’

Robert’s stern expression softened. Woj had gone to so much effort and the truth was that the captain really didn’t want to deny his dragon anything. It was just that they both had to be so disciplined when they were on duty to make all of their dreams come true.

‘Go on then,’ he sighed.

Baku was looking longingly at Jow and Yewl munching on the chicken snacks that Woj was feeding to them. But he was obviously torn between the temptation of the delicious smelling snacks and staying close to his humans

‘Go on, Baku. Go to Woj,’ Łukasz encouraged him, ‘I’ll look after Kuba for you.’

And that was how they watched the opening game of the 2018 FIFA World Cup. The three dragons ate their way through two bags of chicken snacks. Łukasz and Kuba managed to get through quite a lot of snacks without ever letting go of each other’s hands. Even Robert indulged himself in some vegetable chips since they had a few days to go before their first game.

The World Cup had finally begun and it was going to be a good one!


	5. Switzerland - The Draw with Brasil

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well we think Switzerland deserved a fic after the match against Brasil. They cheered us up after the game we're just not going to talk about apart from saying MARCO DESERVED BETTER!!!!!!
> 
> Even though Germany are our home team and we will support them to the bitter end, we've never had a good feeling about them which is why they probably won't appear in this universe. We're not sure that they deserve dragons!

Kaxah and Kürbi were enjoying being an integral part of Switzerland’s preparations for the World Cup but they’d been away from home for a very long time now. This was especially hard for Kaxah as he was missing his husband Suifatm. He’d been allowed to Skype Suifatm, getting glitter all over Granit’s laptop in the process. And he’d introduced his new friend to Suifatm as well. There’d been lots of conversational chirping going on and Roman had to promise to take Kürbi to London for a visit after the tournament was over.

However Kaxah seemed a little down after his Skype chirping to Suifatm, not quite his usual cheerful self. Granit, Roman and Kürbi tried to distract him but it was Yann who came up with a plan. After goalkeeper training was over, Yann used to disappear off with Kaxah and Kürbi. He refused to tell Granit and Roman what was going on, only saying that it was a surprise and all would be revealed if things went well.

Of course Roman and Granit were very curious indeed. But they were willing to wait patiently. And Kaxah looked happier, which was the only thing that really mattered. Not to mention the fact that there was a lot to concentrate on with their opening game coming up.

Brasil! One of the favourites! None of them really thought that they could beat them but they were determined to put up a good fight. The atmosphere in the stadium was absolutely electric. Roman knew that he would be on the bench for this match so had agreed that Kaxah and Kürbi could join him for a dragon’s eye view as long as they promised to behave. One of the physio team brought them out a few minutes into the game as they’d been worried that the anthems and all the pre-match tension might be too much for the very excited small dragons.

Kaxah arrived at the side of the pitch just in time to see his human hauling a Brasilian player to the ground. Roman could have sworn that Kaxah was beaming with pride as he sat down. This wasn’t quite how Roman had envisaged watching his team’s opening World Cup game, with a pair of dragons sitting on his feet, but there were worse ways to spend an evening.

Both dragons were as good as gold. They chirped sadly when Brasil scored but stayed in their ‘seats’. But then it happened! The miracle happened! Switzerland scored! Everybody jumped up and down. Both dragons did celebratory backflips, spraying the entire bench with glitter. But of course nobody minded.

The rest of the game was nail biting, or claw biting if you were a dragon! They were holding on. They were going to hold Brasil to a draw. There was a heart stopping moment when they feared that Akanji had given away a penalty and Roman held his breath for his Dortmund teammate. But the referee didn’t point to the spot and play continued. The minutes ticked down. The added time felt like an eternity of torture. Roman could feel the dragons trembling with nervous energy.

The final whistle blew. They’d done it! And everyone went absolutely wild. The dragons ran onto the pitch to celebrate with the Swiss players. Granit was covered in glitter. Yann would be washing the glitter out of his hair for days. Tonight was a great night and the dragons were determined to join in the party.

Obviously they couldn’t celebrate too much. There were more games to be played. The chances of them getting through the group stages were even greater now. But they were all far too hyped up to go straight to bed afterwards. Back at their base hotel, Yann finally revealed the surprise he’d been planning with the dragons.

‘We choreographed a victory dance,’ the goalkeeper explained. ‘The dragons have been practicing hard. And I think tonight merits a victory dance. But the catch is that the two of you have to join in. Just follow the dragons!’

Roman looked at Granit, who shrugged in resignation. It had been a glorious night and it was time for them to take one for the team. And for their dragons.

And that was how Roman Bürki and Granit Xhaka ended up dancing along with their dragons to Britney Spears’ _Baby One More Time_ , cheered on by the entire Swiss national team. Yann might even have been persuaded to join in as well for he was a very elegant dancer indeed!


	6. Poland - Poland v. Senegal from the Dragons' Perspective

The dragons were having a wonderful time in Sochi and enjoying their holiday on the Black Sea. The Polish dragons had an awesome hotel with a pool! They’d heard that there were complaints from the German dragons that their team accommodation was not very nice at all.

Their humans worked hard in training and the dragons were always on hand to help them. Jow helped out with goalkeeper training and Baku and Yewl were pitchside for every training session, chirping encouragement and snorting glitter from time to time.

But there was plenty of time for them to enjoy themselves. Łukasz and Kuba were getting older – Baku had even heard Łukasz laughingly referring to himself as a dinosaur which had been very, very confusing – so they needed plenty of time to recover after training. And Baku was all too willing to help out in the relaxing department as well as with training.

Jow also liked relaxing by the pool alongside Baku. And even Yewl used to join them from time to time, even though he insisted on keeping up his fitness training by doing water aerobics in the pool! The dragons had their own sun lounger beside the pool that was reserved especially for them. The nice people who brought Łukasz and Kuba drinks were quite happy to bring the dragons water and snack as well.

But of course this wasn’t really a holiday and the day soon came for them all to fly to Moscow for their first game. The stadium was very big and noisy so, since all of their humans were in the starting XI, the dragons stayed in the locker room to keep guard along with some of the staff. They were close to their humans and could watch on TV, so they didn’t mind not being in the stadium itself.

The three little dragons sat in a row in front of the TV, sitting to attention. Their chests puffed out in pride as the anthem was being played as if they themselves had the Polish eagle on their breasts.

The game started alright but it didn’t take long for the dragons to begin to get distressed. Baku got very upset as Łukasz kept getting hit in the face and the other two dragons had to calm him down. It got even worse when he saw Kuba get hurt and the medics had to go onto the pitch. It was lucky that he knew how to behave properly during a match or he would have rushed straight out there himself to see how his human was.

Yewl was unhappy as well because his human never got to see the ball. And then it happened. A player from Senegal escaped from Łukasz and the other team scored a goal. Well they kind of scored a goal as the ball bounced in off a Polish player! Woj never had a chance of saving it but that didn’t stop Jow being sad.

Their humans were not very happy either when they came in at half time. The dragons knew that their humans needed to concentrate and listen to what the coach had to say really carefully so they sat quietly in the corner. But there was time for a quick ‘good luck chirp’ before the second half got underway.

Jow and Yewl had to console Baku as he was really sad that one of his humans couldn’t play in the second half because he had been injured. But then it got even worse. The dragons weren’t complete experts in how to play football, however they were pretty sure that Woj wasn’t meant to be half way down the pitch with one of the opposition players running towards an empty goal with nobody to stop him. Everything seemed to happen in slow motion until the inevitable happened and they were two goals behind. Even a last minute goal for Poland couldn’t cheer them up.

This time the dragons were waiting for their humans to come off the pitch. Robert was first, looking very downcast indeed. Yewl ran towards him and the two of them sat on the floor and hugged, Robert burying his face in Yewl’s scales while the little dragon chirped consolingly. Jow jumped up and down impatiently until he saw Woj coming in, trotting over to poke him with a snout until Woj bent down to pick him up and carry him into the dressing room. Baku couldn’t decide who to comfort first, caught between investigating Kuba’s sore leg and making sure that Łukasz was alright.

It hadn’t been the night that any of them had hoped for. Of course they were happy for the dragons from Senegal, who were dancing on the pitch led by their captain’s dragon. And they were very impressed by the Senegalese fans collecting all their rubbish and tidying up after themselves! But the Polish dragons were mainly concerned with comforting their humans. There were two more games to play. They would fight until the bitter end. The dragons would be right there by their sides. And next time they would insist on being pitchside to keep a very close watch on their humans as well!


	7. Olivier Giroud

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Dear LowInHighSchool
> 
> We wrote this teeny, tiny fic especially for you watching the end of the France v. Peru game. You know that we're not massive fans of this France team. Mistress says that that substitution was really taking the piss! And Peru is where the llamas come from!!!!!!!! But we love Olivier and he deserved it! And he is a big part of your dragon universe so he had to appear in this one at some point.

Olivier wiped the sweat from his brow on his sleeve. They’d made it through the group stages and could relax in their last game. It hadn’t been pretty. Or particularly convincing. They’d been run close by both Australia and Peru. But they’d made it. They were still in the competition and that was all that mattered. And of course he was glad to have started this game, to have been able to play for his country and contribute to the victory. He’d worked hard for that. It was why he’d had to leave Arsenal. And leave Granit, even though he hadn’t gone very far away.

Something or someone was running behind him and butting him in the leg with what felt like … a snout. He knew that feeling. It was Zreginnam. He’d spent a lot of time with Antoine’s little dragon in the French training camp. Zreginnam reminded him a lot of Suifatm and not just the name. And of course that made him think of Kaxah and Granit. He wondered what they were doing right now, if they’d watched him play. Their game was tomorrow night.

Zreginnam seemed to sense that he was feeling a little down despite all the celebrations going on around them and was trying to comfort him. Dragons were very good at that. So Olivier played with Zreginnam for a bit, ending up rolling about on the pitch with him and getting covered with glitter in the process. He did indeed feel better afterwards. Dragons made everything better. Granit was right about that.

Feeling a bit more cheerful, he made his way into the dressing room to check the messages on his phone. He was hoping there would be one from Granit. And there was.

_Congratulations. You were great! Kaxah wants to Skype later!_

_Thanks! But you have to play tomorrow. Are you sure?_

_Of course! I’m worried about the amount of glitter on my laptop though!_

Olivier had to smile. Kaxah did get a bit carried away at times. But that was one of the reasons why he loved the little dragon so much. And he really did feel better now. Their careers meant that he and Granit had to spend far more time apart than he would have liked. But they were never truly apart. Not when there was Skype and dragons to unite them!


	8. Belgium - Belgium v. Tunisia

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I never got to see Spongebob's human score since today was Gay Pride (or Christopher Street Day as we call it here) and Mistress took me out to see the procession so that I could show my solidarity on behalf of dragonkind. The whole city is a colourful mix of rainbow flags, black/red/yellow and Germany shirts.

Dazrah and Spongebob were very excited. OK, so maybe that shouldn’t have been a surprise because the two little dragons got excited quite easily. Chicken usually did it. Or parties. Even an outing to the park could be very exciting for a small dragon. But football always got them very, very excited indeed. And this was about as exciting as it got. THEIR HUMANS WERE PLAYING IN THE WORLD CUP!!!!!!

They’d been allowed to sit beside the dugout to watch. One of the physios had agreed to look after them and make sure that they didn’t get into trouble. And this was one of the most exciting games they had been allowed to watch so far.

Both of them turned somersaults and sprayed glitter everywhere when Eden’s penalty went in. They were winning. And then Romelu scored. Twice! They were leading 3:1 at half time and the dragons did a happy dance as they followed their humans into the tunnel, trying VERY hard not to get glitter everywhere.

The second half got EVEN better as Eden scored again and the dragons celebrated on the sidelines. Dazrah was a little worried that his human had a bit of a sore leg. And both dragons were very upset that Romelu got hurt and had to come off. They went over to where he was sitting pitchside with the doctor having a look at his ankle, nudging him gently with their snouts. Dragons were very sensitive to their players getting injured and Spongebob remembered how horrible it had been when his human was on crutches.

But now his human was playing in the World Cup. Spongebob was probably the most excited dragon in the whole of Russia at that moment. He watched the action intently, chirping theatrically every time his human nearly scored. At one point he even flung himself down on the ground in disgust when the ball hit the bar.

Then it happened! He could hardly believe his dragon eyes. Michy scored in the 90th minute. His human’s first ever World Cup goal. Spongebob did the biggest back somersault in the history of celebratory somersaults. He went so high that he had to use his wings to control his rotation. So he decided not to bother with landing but flew off onto the pitch to circle round and round his delighted human’s head.

They just about managed to keep it together until the final whistle. But then it was time to celebrate with the whole team in a riotous cloud of glitter. They were still celebrating when they got on the team bus, the dragons jumping up and down and dancing on their humans’ laps.

Back at base there was a very special surprise for them. The chefs had made a celebratory meal for the team and they’d even made treats for the dragons. Chicken-flavoured chocolate shaped like chickens! The chocolate was dragon-friendly. And of course it was Belgian chocolate, for Belgians make the best chocolate of all. Maybe the Swiss dragons would argue with them about that, but tonight they were proud Belgian dragons and nothing or nobody was going to convince them otherwise!


	9. Switzerland & Belgium - Final Group Matches

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well our World Cup party is over and I'm very, very sad. There will be no fun here anymore, not because we lost but because it was so humiliating. Most of the World Cup stuff has been taken down already. :-( And we have to wait a very long time for another fun World Cup as the next one will be at Christmas! So I'm not a happy dragon!
> 
> I'm really happy for the teams who went through. And sad for those who've had to go home. I'm especially sad for Marco, Lukasz and Kuba. This was their one chance to play in a World Cup and they worked so hard to get there after their terrible injuries during the season only for it to turn into a complete nightmare.
> 
> But I couldn't ignore how happy the Swiss and Belgian dragons must be. If they continue to do well, there might well be more dragon adventures from the World Cup!

Kaxah and Kürbi were bouncing up and down on the sidelines, excited and nervous in equal measures. Roman had long since given up on any attempts at trying to get them to sit down quietly. He trusted them to behave themselves and the two small dragons knew that they weren’t to go onto the pitch or distract anyone with glitter while the match was still being played.

This was it. The big one. They were almost certainly going through to the knock out stages of the World Cup, but it wasn’t 100% certain yet. Winning would make it happen! Nobody wanted to risk getting through the group stages on the result of the other game

The dragons celebrated as Switzerland went one nil up, turning somersaults and getting glitter all over Roman. But then Costa Rica equalised! The dragons were very worried indeed, even though Roman tried to reassure them that Brasil was winning and a draw would be enough. The dragons had watched enough football matches to know that very, very strange thing could happen in the closing stages, things that could turn a game on its head.

Kaxah and Kürbi followed the action closely, reacting to every chance, every miss, every danger. And then Switzerland scored in the 88th minute! Now the dragons really started to celebrate, dancing up and down the touchline. They were saving their best somersaults for the final whistle though!

But there was one more moment of drama to come. A penalty for Costa Rica. Yann got to it, but it went in off his fist and would be counted as an own goal. 2:2. But it was enough!

Everyone was celebrating and hugging. Kürbi and Kaxah didn’t join in straight away this time though. Instead they trotted over to Yann, butting their snouts against his legs until he smiled at them and bent down to give them a scratch.

Roman and Granit came over to join their dragons and their goalkeeper.

‘I think Kurbi and Kaxah are suggesting that we need to do some more goalkeeper training before the game against Sweden,’ Granit smiled.

Everyone knew that he was just joking but dragon goalkeeper training was always fun. Now it was time to really party and Kürbi and Kaxah leaped high into the Russian night sky, spraying their entire team with a confetti cloud of celebratory glitter.

***

The next night Spongebob sat equally excitably on the sidelines with Dazrah. The outcome of this game wasn’t really important. Both teams had qualified and there were strong suspicions that nobody really wanted to win this match. But Spongebob did. For his human was playing right from the very start! In a World Cup!!!!!!

Spongebob never took his eyes off Michy for a second, hoping that his human would score and he’d be able to do the best back somersault ever. Belgium did score. Although it wasn’t Michy. However Spongebob genuinely couldn’t believe what his human did next. His human picked up the ball to kick it into the net only for it to rebound off the post and hit him in the head!!!!!!!!

That was one of the funniest things Spongebob had ever seen and he and Dazrah rolled about on the ground, laughing so hard that they nearly choked on their own glitter. One of the physios had to pick them up and dust them down in the end.

As soon as the game was over, they both ran over to Michy demanding that he play with them. And Michy knew exactly what they wanted him to do. He kicked the balls to the dragons who tried over and over again to recreate what he had done earlier. But no matter how many times they tried, they just couldn’t, not even when Eden joined in to help them.

Finally it was all too much and they had to stop because their sides hurt too much from laughing.

Michy carried Spongebob into the dressing room, scratching his eye ridges as they want. ‘There’s a reason you and me belong together, Spongebob. We’re just meant to be.’

Of course Spongebob agreed, letting out a cloud of glitter to let his human know just how much he loved him and how proud he was of him!  


	10. Belgium - Belgium v. Japan

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The Swiss dragons are too sad right now, but there might be a story about them sometime. Sweden deserved that win but we didn't like that goal one little bit for a couple of reasons. And now we have to suffer Belgium playing Brazil.
> 
> We're not really enjoying this World Cup very much! Although we liked it that not only did the Japanese fans clear up behind them, the team tidied up their dressing room and left a thank you note!

Spongebob was sad, very sad. So was Dazrah, whose head was hanging down so low that his snout was resting on the ground. Their Red Devils were two goals behind and there wasn’t that long left to go. Spongebob remembered Shinji from his months in Dortmund and liked him a lot. Shinji had always found time to give him a good scratch on the snout. But as much as he liked his former Japanese teammate, he was a proud Belgian dragon. And he was having so much fun with Dazrah and Eden and all the others that he really didn’t want to go home yet!

It happened so quickly and out of the blue that he almost missed it. A goal! They were only one goal behind now. Could the miracle really happen? And then a second goal! 2:2! Everyone on the bench started to prepare for the agony of extra time. The dragons were sitting bolt upright ready to support their humans and their teammates with every inch of dragon strength left in their bodies.

They were waiting for the whistle to blow for the end of regulation time when a small ginger streak started running down the pitch, looking for all the world like a fiery dragon in full flight. Kevin was heading straight towards the Japanese goal. He passed, finding a teammate. AND THE BALL WENT IN!

Everybody went absolutely crazy celebrating on the Belgian bench. Michy ran onto the pitch, jumping up on top of the huddle of happy players. But Spongebob was able to jump up even higher. OK, maybe he cheated a little since he had wings to help him. He and Dazrah flew round the celebrating players, circling round their heads and spraying them with glitter. And then the final whistle went. They had won. They were through to the quarter finals.

As happy as he was, Spongebob didn’t like seeing the Japanese players so devastated. They had fought bravely, like the Samurai warriors that they were. He trotted over to Shinji, butting him consolingly on the leg with his snout, making him smile weakly.

There was no time to party that night though. It was straight home and into bed so that everyone could get enough rest. A big game was waiting for them on Friday. Brazil! The Brazilian dragons were fun and always up for a party, which Spongebob liked. But they were so theatrical. You had to be really careful playing with them. One puff of glitter and they were rolling around on the floor as if they had been poisoned!


	11. Belgium - Belgium v. Brazil

This was big. Really big. They were playing Brazil for a place in the semi-finals. Spongebob was a proud Belgian dragon. He loved their Red Devils. But he couldn’t help feeling nervous, even though he tried very, very hard not to show it. His job was to support his players and stop them from worrying. But his human had known that he was nervous and given him a Red the team mascot plushy to cuddle when he needed comfort. Of course he preferred getting hugs from his human, but Michy had to train and do stuff like that and Spongebob didn’t want to distract him when he was working.

Michy was on the bench so Spongebob and Dazrah could sit with him. They went over to greet the Brazilian dragons before the start as that was only polite. But then it was down to the serious business of supporting their team.

The match was really exciting right from the very beginning. If it hadn’t been their team playing, Spongebob might even have enjoyed watching. But this was far too serious.

They were good. Attacking well. Keeping the pressure up. But Brazil were good as well. And then the first miracle happened. A goal for them. OK it was an own goal, but they had forced the opportunity. And then a second goal. They were leading 2:0 at half time!

But the second half was very, very nervy indeed. Brazil put them under more and more pressure. And then it was 2:1. Spongebob could hear his own claws clacking together nervously because he was shaking slightly. He could see that their players were getting more and more tired, their legs getting heavy - some of them were even suffering from cramp.

Spongebob was glad to see that the Brazilians weren’t getting away with their usual trick of falling down if someone looked at them too hard. Although maybe they should have had a penalty? Not that Spongebob was complaining about the referee’s decision. But Dazrah was getting really upset every time someone pushed his human over or fouled him. Eden seemed to be spending a lot of time lying on the grass. Spongebob was trying hard to keep him calm. For Eden was helping them, keeping the Brazilians away from their goal and at the other end of the pitch.

The last fifteen minutes were agony for the two small dragons. They lived every moment as if it was a lifetime. But they held on, playing out the last few seconds. And then the final whistle blew. They had done it! They were in the semi-finals!

At first everyone was surprisingly calm. But then the celebrations started. The whole team huddled together in a big circle. And who was in the middle of that circle? Spongebob and Dazrah of course, dancing their very special celebration dance to celebrate their team’s victory. Today was a good day to be a Belgian dragon!


	12. The Swiss dragons watch the World Cup final together in London

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There is definitely one, maybe two more chapters to go in this fic.
> 
> In this universe (i.e. the fic that inspired this one), Suifatm lives with Shkodran Mustafi and he and Kaxah are married. And Granit is together with Olivier Giroud. So that might make this chapter make a little more sense! We had this written ages ago and just had to wait and find out who won last night to finish it!

Losing to Sweden had hurt. It had really, really hurt. They had come so close. The Viking dragons had tried to console them, but Kürbi and Kaxah were just too upset. Kürbi was extra upset as they had lost to a goal scored by a Red Bull player. Could it have been any worse?

But, despite how sad they were feeling, they still had their duties to see to. Their job was to cheer up their humans and their teammates. So Kaxah and Kürbi made sure that they made the rounds of the entire team, rubbing them encouragingly with their snouts, letting out a few sad snorts of glitter.

They had a long journey home as well. The flight back to their basecamp took hours. Both Kaxah and Kürbi spent most of the flight curled up on their humans’ laps, although they sometimes took a break and walked up and down the aisle just to make sure that everyone else was OK. Of course everybody was sad, but the sight of the little dragons made them smile despite the disappointment.

Finally they were back in Switzerland. Both Roman and Granit had to go and visit their families first of all. But the dragons had had so much fun together that they didn’t want it to end and so they agreed to watch the World Cup final together.

Kürbi was very, very excited when he and his human boarded the flight from Basel to London. Kurbi had never been to London and he was getting over his distrust of mechanical flying since he liked going on adventures very much indeed. Roman had been to London before of course, but he’d always been working and not really had time to enjoy himself.

And they would have some very special tour guides for this trip. Kaxah and Suifatm were waiting for them as soon as they exited though the arrivals gate, bouncing up and down happily, snorting glitter everywhere. They’d even persuaded their humans to make a ‘Welcome to London, Roman and Kürbi’ sign.

Kaxah proudly introduced Kürbi to his husband Suifatm. They’d already met via Skype, but this was their first time rubbing snouts in person. The three little dragons trotted off through the airport, their humans following behind them.

The dragons loved playing at being tourists in London and wanted to show Kürbi and his human absolutely everything. They marvelled at Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament. They visited Westminster Abbey and behaved very respectfully as was appropriate in such surroundings, which made their humans very proud. They got over their dislike of not being able to use their own wings to climb up into the sky to go on the London Eye and enjoy a dragon’s eye view over the city. They had fun exploring the Natural History Museum and especially liked the dinosaur skeletons. But what they liked most of all was when Roman, Granit and Shkodran took them to the park to play football. Sometimes they even let the humans join in as well!

The big night came round. The World Cup final. Despite their sadness at having to leave Russia early, they were all very excited, settling down with a huge pile of drinks and snacks to watch the game. Shkodran was back in training already and Roman and Granit would soon have to report back to duty, so they all had healthy, football- and dragon-friendly snacks. And there was no doubt about what team they were supporting as they were all fully paid up members of ‘Team Oli’. Well obviously Granit and Shkodran, Suifatm and Kaxah were, so of course Roman and Kürbi decided to join them!


	13. The Polish dragons do some matchmaking

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Dear LowInHighSchool
> 
> So the final weekend is here! Thank you so much for letting me play in your dragon universe! This World Cup was fun but a little weird, and it was definitely much better with dragons. I think the national teams liked having the dragons with them so much that they might be back.
> 
> This is the last chapter Mistress had already helped me to write. Depending on what happens at the weekend, there might be more. I'm looking forward to it but feeling a bit conflicted!

 

Jow, Yewl and Baku had enjoyed their time in Russia, even if none of it had gone the way they’d hoped or expected. The German dragons had already arrived home by the time the third and final Polish group match had kicked off and the Polish dragons knew that they would be going home too no matter what happened in this game. It was all very sad.

They won their final game, but Łukasz, Kuba and Woj hadn’t played at all, which had made Baku and Jow even sadder. And Yewl’s human did play, but didn’t score, which meant that he hadn’t scored a single goal in the World Cup. So Yewl was extra sad as well.

But they were still proud Polish dragons and they would support their team until the final whistle blew. The three of them had stood in front of Łukasz, Kuba and Woj while their anthem played, snouts held high and chests puffed out. They’d celebrated their goal and the victory with their humans. There might even have been some glitter despite the overall sadness! And afterwards they’d greeted and congratulated everyone on the pitch. Although they had won, the mood was still sombre. This would be the last tournament for some of the players, everybody knew that. And it would be the last time they would play for their beloved coach.

They were all packed and ready to go and arrived back in Warsaw the next afternoon. Much to the dragons’ surprise, lots of people were waiting to greet them, wanting autographs and pictures. And the dragons were stars as well. Lots of people wanted selfies with the famous Polish team dragons. They had supported their team so bravely and everyone had fallen in love with them.

Their humans wanted to go home and see their families first, but they all agreed to meet up later for a few days of their holiday. The dragons had had such fun in Russia and wanted to spend some time together before their humans went back to training.

Robert and Yewl had rented a beautiful villa with a swimming pool and access to a private sandy beach. It was perfect for relaxing and for dragons to play and let off steam.

Łukasz and Kuba spent a lot of time lying by the pool, managing to fit together on one sun lounger. Sometimes Baku ran around and played, even jumping in the pool. But he also spent quite a lot of time curled up on top of his humans.

The humans and dragons spent quite a lot of time together as well, going for walks on the beach and travelling to the nearby small town to go out for dinner.

Łukasz, Kuba and Baku couldn’t help noticing that Jow and Yewl seemed to be getting very friendly, as in very friendly indeed, teasing each other and sleeping curled up nose to tail. And Woj and Robert seemed closer as well. At first they thought that this was just because Łukasz and Kuba couldn’t help being a loved-up couple and this made Robert and Woj into an accidental pair. But it seemed to be more than that. There were looks exchanged. Touches of the hand and the shoulder that weren’t totally innocent. Sweet, shy smiles.

Jow and Yewl had obviously noticed this as well and they seemed to be herding their humans together at every available opportunity. They took their chance one lazy afternoon by the pool, managing to use their snouts to nudge Robert and Woj onto the same sun lounger. And then they sat on top of them for good measure, just to make sure that they couldn’t move!

Łukasz and Kuba tried to give them some privacy, but of course they couldn’t help peeking, watching their teammates snuggle close. And they were delighted when they realised that Robert and Woj were kissing for the first time, almost as happy as Jow and Yewl were.

‘I guess that means that we can kiss too,’ murmured Kuba, pulling Łukasz in close for a romantic kiss. Well at least it was a romantic kiss until Baku decided to join in and turn it into a three-way snout kiss.

It had been a good summer after all, the summer of the 2018 World Cup!


	14. Spongebob celebrates a black and yellow victory

This was the game they hadn’t wanted to play. The game nobody wanted to play. The match to determine who was third. But there was still pride to play for and Belgium’s best ever result in a World Cup was at stake.

So of course they were fielding the first choice team and Michy was on the bench today. But the good news was that meant he could look after Spongebob and Dazrah and make sure that they had the best view of all the action. Since it was their very last World Cup game, both dragons were wearing garlands of paper flowers in the colours of the Belgian flag. And Spongebob was extra excited as Belgium were playing in his favourite colours this time, which were black and yellow of course.

The action was lively from the kick off. They scored early, taking a 1nil lead. And they had lots more chances. The dragons were on their feet every few minutes, snorting with excitement. But it was still 1:0 at halftime and none of them underestimated their opponents, especially since so many of the players on the field were teammates in their clubs or faced each other week by week in the Premier League.

The ball rolled for the second half. Belgium were still playing well but England were much better in this half. Luckily their goalkeeper was having a good day. Actually he’d had a lot of good days throughout the whole tournament. But the pressure was getting greater and greater and the dragons were claw-bitingly nervous. They didn’t know if their little hearts could cope with extra time.

And then the moment came. The ball travelled up and down the pitch just so beautifully. And it arrived at Eden’s feet, who set off towards the goal like an elegant steam train. Nothing was getting between him and that goal, absolutely nothing. And then the ball was in! 2:0!

Dazrah absolutely exploded in a huge cloud of glitter and he and Spongebob danced up and down, turning somersaults. They stayed off the pitch this time as there were ten minutes to go, ten nervous, claw-worrying moments. And then the final whistle went. They’d done it! They were third! Maybe not what they had wanted, but they were happy to have won their final match.

Now Spongebob and Dazrah ran onto the pitch to celebrate with the team. Dazrah jumped up into Eden’s arms, getting glitter in his hair in the process. They went over to celebrate with their fans, with the faithful fans who had stayed to see them despite the semi-final loss.

Spongebob and Dazrah stood proudly to attention as their humans and their teammates went up to receive their medals. Dazrah couldn’t resist a little hop of excitement when Eden went up first to get his medal, but nobody minded. And Spongebob might have let out some glitter as Michy got his. The team posed behind the special ‘third place’ sign for the official photograph and the whole backroom staff went up to join them – physios, medics, even the chef!

The dragons weren’t sure what to do. Should they join their teammates or not? But one of the physios encouraged them to come over. And there was a special surprise for them. The catering team had created special medals for them, made out of chicken-flavoured Belgian chocolate. The coach hung the medals round their necks and congratulated them as well.

For the dragons were part of the team. They had been with their team every step of the way, watching over them, celebrating success and cheering them up when they lost. The dragons deserved their medals too. Even if they did plan to eat them once the formalities were over!


	15. Erik watches the World Cup final with a dragon to comfort him

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We hope nobody minds this being the World Cup final dragon story! We'd already been wondering if there was a dragon in Huddersfield to keep Erik company and we got the idea when we saw Lahm bring the trophy out.
> 
> For those of you who don't know, Erik was in Brazil although he didn't play. He'd played just one season in the first season for Dortmund as cover for injured players and everyone had him tipped as maybe the next big thing. But he has been almost constantly injured since them, which is why he is now in Huddersfield. We like Huddersfield a lot and wish him well, but we'll miss seeing him play. And it means that we can't write any more BVB fics as every single one of our pairings are gone/broken up now.
> 
> France were worthy winners and Mistress says she'll help me write an Oli story. But the French team dragon lives with Griezmann and he's not my favourite person right now. I only want to bite him, not eat him and I'm sure it will go away soon!

Erik was excited but confused. His whole life had turned upside down in a matter of days. Six years in Dortmund and now he was in Huddersfield, transplanted from the Ruhrgebiet to Yorkshire pretty much overnight.

The town was small but the countryside seemed very pleasant. He was looking forward to getting the chance to play again now that he was fit. And thankfully he’d been able to get the same shirt number, which was a very good thing since he had it tattooed on his arm.

And a lot of things were familiar to him here already. He knew the coach already. And some of the players – people called them the ‘German colony’ here. And of course he knew Hefele from their time together in rehab in Munich.

His teammates had greeted him warmly on his first visit to the Canalside Sports Complex. It was nice and he knew that it would soon feel like home, although very different from what he was used to.

It was good to see Hefele again and he took Erik aside for a private word.

‘I won’t be at all offended if you don’t want to, if you need to be alone. But you’d be most welcome to come round and watch the World Cup final. We’re not making a big deal of it. A couple of the lads are coming round. There will be something to eat. I’ll give you my address and you can make up your mind nearer the time. Just text me if you’re coming.’

Erik thanked him. With everything that was going on, he’d almost forgotten about the final. In a way he’d tried to forget about it. He wanted to look forward to his new start, not back to the days when his future had seemed golden, before injury after injury had almost destroyed his career.

Sunday came round. Erik still hadn’t made up his mind. But then he pulled himself together. This was his life now and he should take every opportunity he got to spend time with his new teammates before the season started. So he texted Hefele to say he was coming.

_Great! See you later. There’ll be food a couple of hours before kick-off._

Erik knocked at the door promptly at 2pm. There was a strange scrabbling sound and the door opened a crack to reveal a tiny snout.

‘I’m sorry. I forgot to ask. Are you OK with dragons? He’s called Leefeh. He’s very well behaved and won’t bother you if you don’t want him to.’

‘No, I like dragons,’ Erik explained, bending down to scratch the little dragon’s eye ridges and being rewarded with a snort of glitter. ‘I haven’t had that much to do with them, but I met Michy’s Spongebob in Dortmund a couple of times.’

‘Our first game is against Chelsea, so you might get to meet Spongebob again if Michy brings him,’ Hefe grinned. ‘Come inside and meet everyone. There’s only a few of us.’

Erik was enjoying himself – he’d made the right decision. There was a buffet and they chatted about stuff, about football and the town. Where to go and what to do. He got some good advice on where he might want to live. It was all very normal, exactly what he needed right now.

The pre-match broadcast was on, even though nobody was paying it much attention until they settled down to watch with about ten minutes to go. Pretty much at the precise moment that Lahm brought the Jules Rimet Trophy out onto the pitch to hand it over, the moment Germany ceased to be reigning world champions.

Suddenly all the memories came flooding back. Memories of that wonderful time in Brazil. The triumphant return to Germany. Everything that had happened afterwards. The memories hit him like a truck and, to his complete and absolute horror, he felt tears pricking his eyes. Not here, not now. Not in front of his new teammates.

It was Leefeh who saved him. The little dragon had obviously sensed that he was upset and came over and climbed up onto his lap, rubbing his snout against Erik’s face as if to wipe away his tears. Erik stroked the dragon’s scales, feeling instantly soothed, burying his face in Leefeh’s neck until he was sure that he wouldn’t cry any more. The little dragon seemed to be purring happily and curled up in his lap once he was sure that Erik was OK, having obviously chosen his seat to watch the game.

‘He likes you,’ Hefe observed, ‘but be warned. He really likes football and tends to get a little overexcited.’

The game began. France were the favourites, but nobody seemed to have told Croatia that. They were playing with guts and determination. Erik began to wonder if this World Cup would see one last upset. But then Griezmann went to ground, the referee gave a free kick and the ball went in off Mandzukic.

Leefeh’s claws dug into his thighs. The little dragon was not happy, obviously disliking what had happened. And nobody else liked it either, especially after they’d seen replays of the incident from different angles at half time.

But Croatia went on fighting, pulling one back. Only to go behind again having conceded a penalty due to a handball. They came out fighting after the break, nearly scoring so many times. But nearly wasn’t good enough in this game and France turned the heat up, scoring two impressive goals.

The final result was 4:2. France were World Champions. It had been an eventful tournament and an exciting final, even though his legs had almost lost all feeling from Leefeh sitting on him for ninety minutes.

Hefe saw his problem. ‘Shall we go into the garden and have a kick about? Leefeh loves playing football and I’ve got him a special reinforced football so that his claws don’t puncture it.’

And that was how Erik spent the aftermath of the World Cup final of 2018, in a back garden in Huddersfield playing football with a dragon. And the strange thing was that he was happy, really happy.

The World Cup was over and the next chapter of his life could begin!


	16. Coming Home - Oli & the Belgian dragons

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well finally it is really over. The teams are home. This World Cup has been sometimes crazy, sometimes painful, but always amazing. And a very big thanks goes out to all of you who shared the dragons' World Cup journey with us! Glitter and snout hugs!

Spongebob and Dazrah returned home as heroes. Well the Belgian national football team did and the dragons were an integral part of the team. They might not have reached the final but they had come third, which was a massive achievement for such a small country. Eden had been voted the second best player in the whole World Cup, even if Dazrah thought that he should have been the best. And Thibaut had been chosen as the best goalkeeper in Russia. So there was plenty to celebrate!

Everybody was cheering when they landed back in Brussels and came down the airplane steps wearing their medals. Spongebob and Dazrah had been a bit upset at first since they’d eaten their chocolate medals yesterday, worried they might melt in the heat. But they shouldn’t have worried for replacement medals were magicked up for them.

The dragons couldn’t stop themselves from posing on the aircraft steps, snouts in the air, especially since Michy and Eden were posing as well. And then it was into the open topped bus to parade through the streets of the capital, soaking up the cheers and the applause. It was a beautiful sunny day, thousands of people had gathered to see them and the main square was a sea of black, yellow and red waiting for their World Cup heroes.

The dragons followed their humans up onto the balcony. Usually they weren’t very keen on crowds and Dazrah could be a little shy, but today was such a special day that nobody could have kept them away. They bounced up and down, dancing in time to the cheering and the singing.

Eden had been celebrating quite a lot the night before, as had quite a few of the players, and he was wearing dark glasses to hide his bloodshot eyes. But that hadn’t dampened his party mood one bit. Eden seized the microphone to make a speech.

‘I’ve been lucky enough to spend this World Cup with some very important people. My little brother,’ Eden slung his arm round Thorgan’s shoulder, ‘and my little dragon.’ Eden encouraged Dazrah to jump up so that Eden could hold him in his other arm. And Dazrah didn’t mind sharing Eden’s love with Thorgan one little bit. They were World Cup heroes, but even more importantly they were the dragon’s humans.

***

The Swiss dragons and Suifatm had sat with their snouts almost touching the TV screen to watch the World Cup final. Roman, Granit and Shkodran were sitting on the sofa, peering over the dragons’ heads to get a good view of the action.

The dragons admired the bravery of Croatian team, they played with heart and soul, but today they were definitely ‘Team Oli’. And that meant that they were very nervous. Croatia got off to a good start, playing aggressively and fluently. Kaxah was biting his claws. But France was leading at half time. And then they scored twice more in quick succession.

Kaxah and Suifatm were overjoyed, managing to turn somersaults in Granit’s living room, getting glitter absolutely everywhere in the process. After that they danced round in a circle with Kürbi. Luckily Granit had already moved anything breakable out of the way, anticipating the chaos three small but over-excited dragons could create.

They watched in rapt attention as the French team celebrated, chirping as they watched Oli get his winner’s medal. And there was chirping and glitter when they saw Oli lift the trophy into the sky. Their eyes were huge at the sight of a million people celebrating on the Champs-Élysées. They knew that Oli would have to go home to celebrate with the team in front of their fans, taking the World Cup with them, but they couldn’t wait to see him again.

Roman and Kürbi had decided to stay in London until Tuesday as well. Well more accurately Kürbi had looked at his human with big dragon eyes, clearly begging to be allowed to stay. They’d only been together for a few months, but already Roman found it very hard to say no to his dragon. They would still have time for a holiday before training started since Roman didn’t have to go on the team’s tour of the USA.

Three dragons were sitting waiting impatiently behind the door for Oli to arrive. They were sensitive enough to let him and Granit hug first before jumping up and down, nudging him with their snouts, even managing to get glitter in his beard. Shkodran and Roman congratulated him in a more normal fashion.

And then they all sat down on the sofa for a bit so that Oli could tell them absolutely everything. The dragons were utterly entranced by the shiny medal hanging round Oli’s neck. And if one of them bit it just to make sure it was real, well the medal survived and Oli didn’t mind too much. He was glad to be home with the man he loved. And a houseful of dragons and random guests. Everything was better with dragons, even winning the World Cup!


End file.
